The True You
by difficile
Summary: Sequel to Façade. Vaan took notice of the contrast of Jahara’s sunsets on the horizon, and wondered quietly if Balthier would ever care enough to show him the whole sky. Balthier/Vaan.


_**A/N: People were requesting a sequel to Façade, and I have been feeling oddly inspired lately.. .and I've also been skipping around on my 100 theme writer's challenge. So here you go. Hope you enjoy, and please drop a review telling me what you thought. See something you like, something you didn't? Read something that made you feel something? As an author, I'd like to know what I make my readers interpret.**_

_**So please, GIVE ME YOUR INPUT.**_

* * *

**(o71)**

**The True You**

* * *

Jahara's sunsets were like no other Vaan had ever seen. The clouds seemed dispersed in some sort of aesthetic pattern as they lazily soared across the sky, allowing the dying rays of twilight to stretch through their cotton-like exterior and bathe the land below in a warm glow. It was that breathtaking, delicate view that compelled Vaan to take a private walk through the ancient land of the Garif, exploring the barren plains with light feet. Faintly in the distance he could spy the peeking trees of Ozmone Plain stretching above the rocky crevices, but that view soon bored the blonde and he found himself outside the small barriers of Jahara, treading on empty dirty outskirts of the land. Little weeds sprouted in random order all around, and every now and then Vaan would encounter a small cactus, but other than these small details, the outskirts of Jahara were devoid of fiends, Garifs, and humes.

Just how he wanted it.

Blue eyes scanned his surroundings again, making one last check to make sure he was alone before he allowed himself to relax. The evening's breeze was most welcoming, and the blonde sighed as the wind combed its delicate fingers through his flaxen locks. Slowly he brought himself to a sitting position, leaning back by the support of his hands.

It had been only a week since that night in Rabanastre, yet the thoughts still plagued Vaan's mind on more than one occasion each day. He avoided Balthier and the sky pirate did the same in return, not even speaking sporadically like they used to. There was some sort of awkward tension between them.

All Vaan wanted was a simple explanation of what was going on in the sky pirate's head, but he could easily feel the vibes from Balthier that instantly made the blonde unwilling to confront him in any way. Absentmindedly Vaan dug his fingers into the dehydrated topsoil and released another puff of air through his thin, pink lips.

"The sky looks different here," Vaan muttered to himself, head tilted up towards the grand infinity looking down upon his miniscule form.

"You've noticed it too, then?" a familiar voice replied, and Vaan couldn't help but let out a tiny yelp as he suddenly registered the presence of the man behind him. Head whipping to the side, Vaan blinked.

"You scared me," the blonde muttered, turning back to the horizon and avoiding the gaze of the other. His shoulders tensed slightly as he heard the sound of Balthier's footsteps approaching him. The empty space to his right was soon occupied by the infamous sky pirate, and Vaan tilted his chin down and looked to his left, wondering what this situation would possibly result in.

Balthier propped a wrist up on a bent knee while his other leg lay straight ahead, and he joined Vaan in his skygazing.

"You stated the sky looks different here. Not many others take note of such a detail."

"Not many others are like me."

"Are like _us_."

Vaan blinked and summoned up the courage to look beside him, locking eyes with Balthier for a split second before resuming his gaze at the horizon.

"What are you doing here?" Vaan asked before he exploded with sheer curiosity.

Balthier fell into a silent trance for a moment, fingers lightly tapping against his knee. Vaan looked down at the rings on the man's fingers and suddenly stumbled upon the irony of how such an austere man would wear such contrasting colors with his aristocratic attire.

_You're more than meets the eye, aren't you?_ Vaan pondered, eyes crawling up Balthier's figure to study his masculine profile. It wasn't long until the brunette's reply threw Vaan from his daze.

"We haven't spoken in a while."

_Well whose fault is that?_ Vaan thought almost bitterly, tending back to grazing his fingers in the topsoil as he fished for a reply.

"You just walked from me that night in Rabana-"

"I realize that, and I apologize for my hasty departure. Perhaps I should have elaborated on my leave then."

"Maybe… But how about now?"

"I believe I must request for an elaboration on a certain subject before I can properly explain my motives on a sufficient level."

Vaan blinked.

"_Huh_?"

Balthier merely chuckled deeply in reply, shaking his head with a small grin on his face.

"I need to ask you a question before I can answer yours."

Vaan resisted the urge to pout. _Then why don't you just _say_ that?_

The blonde shrugged his shoulders, masking his impatience poorly. "All right, then shoot."

"The boy you were with that night…"

"At the Sandsea?" Vaan interrupted, tilting his head to the side. Balthier let out a small breath, obviously vexed by his interruption.

"Yes, at the Sandsea…Who was he?"

"His name was Bahdrak."

Balthier's eyes narrowed and he fell silent for a moment before re-wording his question, voice on the edge of patience.

"Who was he to _you_?"

Vaan's lips pursed in and he looked down at the ground, as if searching for an answer buried beneath the soil. He thought back on that evening with the dark-haired Bhujerban boy, not but a year older than him, and remembered the fact that they had only met that night.

"Nothing, really." Vaan managed to reply, shrugging his shoulders for the umpteenth time that evening. "I mean, we talked, we danced, we…" he stopped, not wanting to admit out loud what he did with an almost-stranger. "We…"

"_Kissed,"_ Balthier finished, stressing the word in such a way that made Vaan's ears turn red.

"But it was nothing too serious. Just… a little… experiment," Vaan finally finished, digging his knuckles into the ground as if to reassure himself of the fact. And it was true; Bhadrak was just a test to Vaan, as Vaan was to Bahdrak.

"Really now?" Balthier muttered, eyes narrowing a fraction as he stared almost bitterly at the dying sunset.

Vaan turned to face Balthier and suddenly he began to slowly realize what the brunette was hinting at ever-so-subtly. He found that by answering Balthier's question, Vaan had answered his own.

Contrary to popular belief, Vaan was not an idiot; most of the time he just didn't know how to word his thoughts properly. Being raised as a street urchin – an orphan scrounging for food and pickpocketing Imperials – well, naturally Vaan wasn't too good with social skills. But that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't smart in the head.

The Rabanastran remained silent, just staring at the sky pirate who, sensing the stare, looked back with an unreadable expression. Slowly Vaan's lips curled into a grin and he tilted his head to the side rather cutely, as if to study Balthier's features at another angle.

"You know, Balthier… For someone who claims to be a leading man, you're not very good at leading," Vaan stated softly before leaning forward and pressing his lips against the other man's in a short, sweet kiss. Although brief, Vaan could faintly detect the alluring, rough taste of the sky pirate – a taste that made his lips tingle slightly. The blonde then retreated slowly, grin staying the same as he relished the look of genuine surprise on the sky pirate's face; what a delicacy of an expression to witness!

_You're not so suave when the tables are turned…_ Vaan thought, amused at Balthier's expression, but at the same time also afraid at what that intimate action he initiated would result in. He waited patiently, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. The blonde's ears perked slightly as Balthier spoke again.

"Perhaps… I've just been out of sorts lately. Allow me to give you my sincerest apologies and compensate for my uncharacteristic ignorance." Balthier almost cooed, gracefully turning his head towards the blonde with the piqued interest. Without warning Balthier's hand snaked to Vaan's face and he cupped his cheek firmly before closing the gap between their lips completely in a firm kiss. Vaan let out a surprised noise that was muffled by the contact of the kiss, certainly not expecting this.

Not that he was complaining or anything.

Vaan frequently wondered, in the past, what it would be like to kiss the infamous Balthier; would it be breathtaking, like some kind of euphoric high? He pressed his lips harder into Balthier's, savoring the newfound passion blossoming within his core as he proved his previous theory true. Euphoric was an understatement. There would be no sense in pulling back now.

He wondered what it would be like to rake his fingers through Balthier's russet hair. Vaan anticipated it wouldn't be soft as his slightly trembling fingers grazed over the locks. The front was hard, stiff; the gel that held up the bangs made it uninteresting to Vaan, and so he pushed his hands back further and immediately noted the change as his fingers combed through a softer territory. Clenching and unclenching his hands softly as the kiss continued, Vaan allowed his grip to relax and he ran his hand down the back of Balthier's head to keep him in place.

Vaan felt goosebumps pop up around his arms as Balthier's other hand massaged gently through his scalp before lightly trailing down his jawline and caressing it with the outside of his index finger.

The sky pirate certainly knew what to do with that talented pair of lips, and Vaan basked in the sweet caresses that managed to brush against his own.

Oxygen needed, they both parted barely, and through clouded blue eyes Vaan noticed the passion apparent in the chesnut orbs staring back at him.

Cheeks slightly red, Vaan let out a tiny breath before whispering, "why didn't you tell me before? Why did you just…walk away that night?"

Balthier merely stared back and Vaan felt him searching through his own eyes for some sort of answer.

"In all honesty, I haven't a proper answer. I was unsure…"

"If you wanted this or not?" Vaan interrupted again, and blinked as Balthier shook his head with another light chuckle.

"I was well aware of what I wanted. The conflict that was at hand was how to approach you with this…I assumed you had someone."

"You thought Bahdrak and I were together?"

A perfectly shaped brown eyebrow arched slightly. "That is what one naturally assumes when seeing two people kiss on the lips."

Vaan averted his gaze to the ground and let out a nervous laugh. "I guesso."

"You're rather good at misleading people."

Vaan looked back up to Balthier, meeting his eyes and noticing the grin on his face. "I thought you liked a good chase."

"What ever gave you that idea?" the sky pirate retorted amusingly, brushing his nose lightly against Vaan's.The blonde remained quiet and Balthier broke the silence again with a chuckle. "But you're right in such an assumption. I do enjoy a little chase."

Vaan's eyes lit up and he met Balthier's, heart fluttering lightly in his chest.

"Then catch me, _sky pirate._ Let's see how fast you can fly," Vaan whispered, pecking the sky pirate's pouted, moist lips before skillfully recovering from his sitting position and dashing away, a perfervid smile on his face as he heard the light footsteps following him. Vaan's eyes looked towards the horizon as he ran, and he cherished the glowing embers of the sun bathing the land below in a blanket of orange.

_The sky looks different here._

_Show it to me, Balthier._

_Show me the whole sky._

* * *

_**A/n: Review. Do not just favorite, review.**_


End file.
